I had booked this ticket quite in advance - Makar Sankranti holiday, plus a plan to take a couple of day leave to make it a long holiday at home. I opted for a lower berth, and ended up getting a side lower berth - I was worried from the moment I saw this. The side middle berth would surely make it claustrophobic, and I always have a fear of congested places. In the run up to the journey, a lot of things changed, and I ended up having to change my boarding point to Hosur.
January 14, 2020:
I had reached Hosur a little before 1930hrs, on a bus from Chennai. After alighting outside the bus station, I spent some time walking aimlessly - around the bus station and the flower market opposite the bus station. The flower market was busy - Tamil Nadu was celebrating its biggest festival, Pongal, the next day. The entire area was busy - people were every where. I kept wandering around for some more time, before I headed to a restaurant nearby for dinner. I had to spend a lot of time - my train was only at 2215hrs. I decided to take a bus to the railway station - I had a lot of time to spare anyways. After getting to the bus station, I enquired for buses to the railway station - I found one, but the conductor said they'd start only at 2100hrs. I had no issues with the delay anyways.
The bus started exactly at the time the conductor mentioned - the bus was packed to capacity by now. Was overflowing, in fact. The bus crawled through fairly empty roads towards the railway station. The bus almost emptied out at the railway station about 15 minutes later. I still had a lot of time to go - it was cold, and windy outside. I hadn't taken a thermal wear - actually forgot to take in the hurry at morning. I headed to the station, and took a seat on platform 1. My train would depart from Platform 2. In the mean time, the Kannur Express came in - plenty of passengers got off from the unreserved coaches. The train departed a few minutes later.
I headed to Platform 2 a little past 2200hrs - a series of trains were departing from Hosur in the coming hour, and hence, the platform had a lot of passengers waiting. It was really cold - and it was getting a little difficult to wait. I had a hot beverage from a stall on the platform to keep me a little warm. The NTES App updated that my train was running a little over 10 minutes late. The train rolled in at 2235hrs - Krishnarajapuram WDP4D #40451 was in lead. My coach came in exactly at the place I was waiting at. The coach - G10 - was of 2008 vintage. Most passengers were already on board - somebody was occupying my berth as well. I had to wait for a while before they vacated my berth - infact, they didn't vacate before I had firmly asked them to do so.
The train started off from Hosur at 2238hrs. It was a bit of struggle to spread the bed sheet (I had pre-booked a bed roll) on the berth before I could lay down. I felt claustrophobic - the space between the side lower and side middle berth was comparatively lesser compared to the space between the normal lower and middle berths. I was tired and sleepy - I slept in no time. The AC was quite cold - and I had to use the blanket (I usually don't use a blanket) this time around. I slept quite well - and woke up briefly as the train was departing from Coimbatore (around 0415hrs). I resumed sleep - I usually don't sleep after such awakenings. I had a nice long sleep again, and woke up this time only as my alarm went off - around 0615hrs. The train was already closing in to Thrissur - the AC was cold, and the lack of space meant I couldn't sit. I got off the berth, and waited near the door instead. It was warm and comfortable outside. The train finally rolled in to Thrissur station at 0626hrs - 5 minutes behind schedule.
Journey in a Nutshell:
Train Number: 12257 Yeswantpur - Kochuveli 'Garib Rath' Express
Loco link: WDP4D #40451 of Krishnarajapuram
Coach: G10, WACCNH1 #08106 built of Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. Based at Yeswantpur.
Ratings:
Punctuality: 10/10 (Negligible delay at destination)
Cleanliness: 10/10 (It was clean!)
Catering: Not Applicable
Overall: 9.5/10
I was apprehensive about the side lower berth - it is not as comfortable as the routine lower berth, but not as bad as I had imagined. I did feel claustrophobic - but I was really tired that I slept off in no time. It overall a good journey!
January 14, 2020:
I had reached Hosur a little before 1930hrs, on a bus from Chennai. After alighting outside the bus station, I spent some time walking aimlessly - around the bus station and the flower market opposite the bus station. The flower market was busy - Tamil Nadu was celebrating its biggest festival, Pongal, the next day. The entire area was busy - people were every where. I kept wandering around for some more time, before I headed to a restaurant nearby for dinner. I had to spend a lot of time - my train was only at 2215hrs. I decided to take a bus to the railway station - I had a lot of time to spare anyways. After getting to the bus station, I enquired for buses to the railway station - I found one, but the conductor said they'd start only at 2100hrs. I had no issues with the delay anyways.
The bus started exactly at the time the conductor mentioned - the bus was packed to capacity by now. Was overflowing, in fact. The bus crawled through fairly empty roads towards the railway station. The bus almost emptied out at the railway station about 15 minutes later. I still had a lot of time to go - it was cold, and windy outside. I hadn't taken a thermal wear - actually forgot to take in the hurry at morning. I headed to the station, and took a seat on platform 1. My train would depart from Platform 2. In the mean time, the Kannur Express came in - plenty of passengers got off from the unreserved coaches. The train departed a few minutes later.
I headed to Platform 2 a little past 2200hrs - a series of trains were departing from Hosur in the coming hour, and hence, the platform had a lot of passengers waiting. It was really cold - and it was getting a little difficult to wait. I had a hot beverage from a stall on the platform to keep me a little warm. The NTES App updated that my train was running a little over 10 minutes late. The train rolled in at 2235hrs - Krishnarajapuram WDP4D #40451 was in lead. My coach came in exactly at the place I was waiting at. The coach - G10 - was of 2008 vintage. Most passengers were already on board - somebody was occupying my berth as well. I had to wait for a while before they vacated my berth - infact, they didn't vacate before I had firmly asked them to do so.
 |
| My train, arriving at Hosur. |
The train started off from Hosur at 2238hrs. It was a bit of struggle to spread the bed sheet (I had pre-booked a bed roll) on the berth before I could lay down. I felt claustrophobic - the space between the side lower and side middle berth was comparatively lesser compared to the space between the normal lower and middle berths. I was tired and sleepy - I slept in no time. The AC was quite cold - and I had to use the blanket (I usually don't use a blanket) this time around. I slept quite well - and woke up briefly as the train was departing from Coimbatore (around 0415hrs). I resumed sleep - I usually don't sleep after such awakenings. I had a nice long sleep again, and woke up this time only as my alarm went off - around 0615hrs. The train was already closing in to Thrissur - the AC was cold, and the lack of space meant I couldn't sit. I got off the berth, and waited near the door instead. It was warm and comfortable outside. The train finally rolled in to Thrissur station at 0626hrs - 5 minutes behind schedule.
Journey in a Nutshell:
Train Number: 12257 Yeswantpur - Kochuveli 'Garib Rath' Express
Loco link: WDP4D #40451 of Krishnarajapuram
Coach: G10, WACCNH1 #08106 built of Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala. Based at Yeswantpur.
Ratings:
Punctuality: 10/10 (Negligible delay at destination)
Cleanliness: 10/10 (It was clean!)
Catering: Not Applicable
Overall: 9.5/10
I was apprehensive about the side lower berth - it is not as comfortable as the routine lower berth, but not as bad as I had imagined. I did feel claustrophobic - but I was really tired that I slept off in no time. It overall a good journey!
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